Multiple tube water heater



l (No Mpdel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

, A. P. BEOOMELL.

MULTIPLE TUBE WATER HEATER. No. 603,169. Patented Apr. 26, 1.898.

mi Nonms Pzrzns no: ruoroumu., WASHINGTON. nc.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

` A-P. BROOMELL.

1 MULTIPLE TUBE WATEE HEATER.

No. 603,169. Patented Apr. 26, 1898.

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3 Sheets- Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

A..P.BR00MELL. MULTIPLE TUBE WATER HEATER.

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,. UNITED STATES? PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT P. BROOMELL, OF. YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

M U LTlPLE-TUBE WAT'ER-HEATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,169, dated April 26, 1898. Appnmibnmeaseptemberzg,1897. semina. 653,528. oramai.)

To YI/ZZ whom it maywncern:

v Be it known that I, ALBERT P. BROQMELL, of York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Multiple-Tube VVVater-Heaters, (known to the engineering trade as fueleconomizers,) of which the -following is a specification. A

My'invention is in the nature of an improved multiple-tube water-heater designed for, the purpose of economizing fuel.' It is wellunderstood that every heat unit which escapes with the products of combustion from a furnace is a heat unit lost.

My invention provides a means for saving a portion of these heat units by utilizing them to heat the feed-water. Devicesintended to accomplish this result have been heretofore provided which were located in a chamber arranged inthe path of the products of combustion from the furnace to the stack, and which devices consisted of a series of .tubes through which the feed-Water wasl passed,

while the hot gases, smoke, and products of` combustion circulatedv between them. Y

. My improvements consist in a peculiar con-` struction and arrangement of'valve by which the water may bemade to travel quickly and in a comparatively straight course through' the heater from the inlet to the outlet or ,bemade rto follow a long and winding passage therethrough, as may be desired.

It also consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of thecouplings of the pipesections for joining them together in a simple and practical manner, and one which facilitates-cleanin g, as will-be hereinafter fully de` scribed. l

Figure 1 is 1 a vertical transverse section through the heater. Fig. 2 is af'side view with the outenwall partly brokenaway and parts of the pipes in section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through one of the couplingi sleeves of the header-pipes.

Fig. 4. is a top view of this coupling. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is'a perspective detail of one section of the multiple valve.

In the drawings, Figs. l and 2, X represents the brick. Wan forming the chamber Within which the water-heater is located and through which the hot productsof combustion are compelledto circulate. This heater consists of a great many series ofvwater-circulating pipes. Each series consists of a number of vertical parallel pipes A, Fig. l, which at their upper 5 5 .these vertical and horizontal pipes are ar- 6o ranged side by side throughout the length of the chamberand may be extended indefinitely. Each of the series AB C is coupled to the 'adja- -cent series for open communication by a spe- .cial construction of header-coupling. The bot- 65 tom header B, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, has cast upon' its lower side, outside of the inclosing wall, a flanged sleeve b in open communication with the header, while the end of the header is left open and provided with a detachable cap or cover b', secured in place by T-headed bolts b2, engaging with lugs b3 b3, cast on the end of the header-pipe. The flanged sleeves b of the header-couplings have at their ends both inside flanges b4, forming valve seats or partitions, and outside flanges b5, by which the abutting sleeves offadjacent header-couplings are bolted together t0 make a continuouswater-conduit along the lower edges of all 4the header-pipes.

VWithin the continuous vconduit formed by theabutting sleeves when bolted together I arrange a peculiarly constructed multiple valve, composed of a series of sections like that shown in Fig. 6. This consists of two end disks m fm., connected together by three (more or less) parallel bars m m fm', which unitethe two end disks at points near their peripheries. These end disks have central h'oles to Vreceive bolts m2, which connect the 9o be stopped in the plane of these flanges (which act somewhat like valve-seats) to cut 0E communication between the'sever'al coup- IOO ling sleeves, headers, and their attached series of pipes. The end of the multiple valve is connected to a rod R, passing through a stuffing-box to the exterior and there attached to a hand-lever R for operating the valve with a longitudinal sliding movement. This valve for the lower header-pipe has a counterpart in the upper headersleeves c, worked by lever C', the set being constructed, arranged, and operated in the same manner as the lower one.

The purpose and operation of these multiple valves are as follows: lVhenever the lever R is thrown to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 5, the disks of the valve occupy a position between its seats or the internal flanges at the ends of the sleeves, and water may pass freely through the pipe formed by these abutting sleeves and through the headers and their vertical pipes without hindrance or defiection, being free in such case to follow its own course, which would be a more or less straight course from the inlet to the outlet of the water-heater; but when the lever R is shifted, as shown in dotted lines, the disks of the multiple valve are shifted to a position in the plane of the internal flanges b4 and close the openings in the same at every alternate joint between the sleeves, (the valvedisks being twice the distance apart that the said joints are.) Now (see Fig. 2) if the sectional pipe of the lower header has its valve adjusted to stop up its openings 1 and 8, and the sectional pipe of the upper header has its valve adjusted to stop up its openings 2 and 4, as indicated by the dotted position, it will be seen that the water entering the first header below cannot pass to the second header below on account of the closure of the opening between by the valve-disk at Z, and therefore the water rises through the lfirst series of pipes to the top, and then it passes to the top header of the second series of pipes, and not being able to pass direct to the third top header on account of the closure of the valve at valve-seat No. 2 it descends in the second series of pipes and passes from the header at the bottom to the next header, (which is not closed on account of the valve-disks being twice as far apart as the openings or valveseats,) and there it encounters the closed valve of the third joint at its lower header and is again directed upwardly. In this way it will be seen that the water is made to go up one series of pipes, down the next, up the third, and so on, pursuing a very long and winding course through the header, that gives a prolonged exposure to the influence of the hot gases to secure the absorption and utilization of the heat units.

This valve construction, it will be seen, allows the change from a relatively straight and direct passage of the water to a long and winding course to be quickly and conveniently made.

The merit in having the sleeves cast on the lower side of the lower header and upper side of the upper header is that it puts them in a convenient position for coupling and connecting them outside the wall of the casing, and at the lower header it also secures the very important result of leaving the ends of all the headers with a place for the little doors or closing-plates h/ in alinement with the body of the header-pipes for convenience in inserting a scraper for cleaning out sedimentary deposits which accumulate from time to time in the lower header.

As the multiple valve is adjusted back and forth it will be seen that its three longitudinal bars form guides that rest against the inner edges of the internal flanges and insure the centralization of the valve-disks and the proper registration of the same with their openings or seats.

By removing the terminal head of the last sleeve it will be seen that the entire multiple valve may be easily slid out cndwise.

One great advantage of this construction is that any one of the series of pipes may be taken out for repairs without disturbing the others.

At the top part of Fig. 2 are shown a set of scraping devices for cleaning off deposits from the exterior of the pipes and keeping the surface clean for the absorption of the heat. Pairs of Scrapers F F are attached to the opposite ends of a chain e', which passes overa pulley E, keyed to a worm-wheel e2. These worm-wheels engage with worms e on a shaft E', and the shaft is given a slow revolution, first in one direction and then in the other, and works continuously to cause the Scrapers to rise and fall over the tubes. These cleaning devices, however, form no part of my invention, and I make no claim to the same.

To facilitate the cleaning of the pockets of the sleeves under the multiple valve, I employ in each sleeve a brass blow-off plug p, and blow-off valves V are also arranged at suitable intervals along the valve-Casin gs and either connected with a blow-off pipe Por arranged to discharge into the air, as may be desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Header-pipes for connecting with a series of circulating-pipes at right angles, said header-pipes having formed on their ends and on one side of their longitudinal axes short fianged sleeves in open communication with the header pipes, the said sleeve of each header-pipe being offset to one side of said pipe and arranged at right angles to it, to form when joined together a continuous conduit, and the end of said header-pipe being provided with an opening and detachable cap giving direct access to the header along its longitudinal axis and outside the said sleeve, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of a series of circulating-pipes, two sets of header-pipes joining IOO IIO

onto their ends and having each a common conduit at right angles to the headers, formed by sectional oisetting sleeves arranged at right angles to the headers and bolted together,

multiple valves arranged in these two con-v or casing having inwardly-projecting flanges sustaining said valve, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The header-pipes having at or near their ends osetting sleeves Whose longitudinal aXes are at right angles to that of the headers, said sleeves having both external and internal iianges, and said external flanges being bolted together, and the internal flanges forming valve-seats, and the multiple valve having a series of disks connected in longitudinal alinement and arranged to be simultaneously adj usted between the ilanges, or in the plane of the flanges, substantially as and for the purpose described.

ALBERT P. BROOMELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN F. SPRENKEL, WM. J. GEMMILL. 

